It is Sabbath today. So a sleep-in and then the effort to find something to do that isn’t related to work. We visited two sisters who had started a beading craft business after participating in the Family Education program. Both had lost their husbands to illness and between them they had four young children to care for. When we visited they had all their beading kit out. The youngest child was a 10-month-old girl. She was teething, drooling everywhere, grinning at us all. Much more photogenic than the beads!
After our visit we went to the Tosontsengel hydro power plant, which was formed by making a small dam in two rivers. I have observed Mongolians next to large bodies of water twice now. Each time they squat down near the edge and dip their hands respectfully, maybe splashing some water on their faces. While we were sitting contemplatively at the water’s edge I was asked how close I lived to the sea. When I told them the sea was about 30 minutes away from our apartment in Sydney and that all of us except Keira could swim I was met with noises of astonishment. Later Tungaa told me that large bodies of water, like the White Lake, have holy meanings for Mongolians. This could be recognised by the government as many lake areas are “protected areas” – equivalent to our National Parks.
See, song really is part of the landscape!
I am now sitting in a forest of trees on the side of a hill, with a view not particularly majestic. I am on a red rug, covered in roses. The Mongolian’s are playing a serious game of cards. Nat and I went for a walk in the forest for 20 minutes without finding anywhere that looked particularly different. So she is listening to her ipod and I am listening to the wind. Field note: Bumblebees, honeybees or whatever they are called here are HUGE. I had a childhood fear of flying bugs and these ones are big enough to give me flashbacks.
8 June 2008
We drove to Uliastai this morning. It was good to be moving again. Uliastai is the capital of Zavkhan. The sky was overcast, which lessens the impact of the scenery. We did stop to look at two huge eagles standing on the ground near the road. My camera was packed away but I would estimate that they were taller than Alesia. They looked clumsy as they went to fly away, but once they left the ground their wingspan was enormous and they flew with grace and menace. I half expected to see Frodo sitting on the back of one of them.
After a short meeting in the afternoon Natalie and I were left to ourselves (again). Natalie was working on her essay. I decided to go for a walk. Perhaps this demonstrates that my PNG training is fading (never walk alone anywhere). I set off with just my camera, no money, and only three words of Mongolian (hello, good-bye, thank you). Within view of the hotel (and all of the town I guess) is a small rocky mountain with nine Buddhist stupas on top. They stand in whitewashed glory, accompanied by all the tv and telephone aerials and satellite dishes needed for the town communications.
I climbed up and sat away from the stupas to enjoy a view of the wetlands below that was uninterrupted by powerlines. When I was ready to leave I figured I should take a photo of the stupas. As I put the camera down a young guy approached and told me (I think) that I had to pay T2000 ($2) for photos. I had no money, and said so. He went to confer with a mate while I wondered how I was going to get off this mountain without losing something. The two guys approached me as I started to walk towards the path. I was surprised when they smiled and indicated that I should take their picture. So I got them to pose on a bench, took a few snaps and showed them the LCD preview. This seemed to make them happy. I showed them the ADRA project logo on my jacket, which was written in English and Mongolian. ADRA has field office here, so I hoped it had a good reputation. They read the label, smiled and when I said goodbye in Mongolian they corrected my pronunciation and all ended well. Below is the offending photo and the snapshot of the guys...
Nat and I are staying in the posh room in this hotel. We have a small bedroom, a small sitting room with two armchairs and an ensuite toilet. It was great at 4am to only have to staffer to the ensuite instead of downstairs, out the door, across a yard (avoiding the cow pats and the dog) to the pit toilets. The additional highlight is the hand basin with running water. It makes life so much easier to have running water handy. We can rinse out some clothes, wash out a cup or a bowl, wash our hands. Previously we had been making creative use of hand wipes.
Follow this link to see some of the panorama shots I took on this trip.
